Australia's regulations a template for US

Former Australian prime minister John Howard wore a bulletproof vest under his suit when he addressed an angry crowd of gun owners in 1996, telling them he was going to ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons for the safety of all Australians.

S. Africa to pull troops from CAR

South Africa has decided to pull its troops out of the Central African Republic because the deal under which they were deployed has become void with the fall of the government there, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

Aid giving by rich nations falls for second year

Development aid from rich countries to some of the world's poorest fell for a second year in a row in 2012, as big European donor countries hit by years of debt crisis cut their spending.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

NZ, China in bid to end tour scams

New Zealand's government tourism agency is working with Chinese authorities to raise awareness of potential souvenir scams aimed at Asian tourists, a senior official said on Wednesday.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Coming to a screen near you

A gleam of hope may have lit up the eyes of independent mobile application developers in response to the news that 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio has officially earned his seat at the cool kids' table by selling his news-aggregator app, called Summly, to the tech giant Yahoo! for a reported $30 million in cash and stock.

Inside story

The small fry

Insurance a cure for medical woes

An inflamed pancreas was the jab in the side Zhao Zhiqiang needed to realize that health insurance was a good idea.

What's in a name?

There's a tradition in China, whereby children are often named after major events. For example, many women in their 50s who were born just after the Korean War (1950-53) have the name Kangmei, which means "Anti-United States", while many men bear the name Yuanchao, which means "Aiding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".

Family farms planting seeds for prosperity

Cao Xinyun, 59, is the only male worker on his watermelon farm. In a tent he erected for temporary employees, 10 elderly women were drinking tea and eating sunflower seeds.

Falling sales paint a bleak picture for China's art market

Spring has yet to warm the hearts of China's auctioneers. Instead, a chill wind is blowing through the art market. In contrast to recent years, the spring auction season, which began in early February, has been a cause for concern rather than celebration.